Elena Moore
Appearances
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-26-2025 6PM EDT
Judges typically don't have control over what cases they're assigned. This latest assignment happens to come shortly after a separate case Boasberg presided over, in which he temporarily blocked the administration from deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador. Trump criticized that move last week and called for Boasberg to be impeached.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-26-2025 6PM EDT
It sparked concern among the legal community and even prompted Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to issue a rare statement. saying, quote, impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. Elena Moore, NPR News, Washington.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-23-2025 5PM EDT
26-year-old activist and teacher Elijah Manley is running for Congress in southeast Florida. He's frustrated and says voters are too.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-23-2025 5PM EDT
Though challengers have ousted incumbents of their own party before, strategists say it's nearly impossible. So the Democrats already in office have a significant edge over those seeking to shake up the party and good odds of staying where they are. In the 2024 election, 96 percent of incumbents held on to seats. Elena Moore, NPR News.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-13-2025 6AM EDT
The House Energy and Commerce Committee, the Ways and Means Committee, and the Committee on Agriculture will each meet. GOP leaders must find a way to meet demands for deep spending cuts while also working to appease members who want to protect costly programs and tax incentives. One example is over salt, state and local property taxes.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-13-2025 6AM EDT
Members in competitive New York, New Jersey, and California districts say their support for the bill is tied to a higher cap for salt deductions. It's crucial for GOP leaders to get these folks on board. Republicans hold a slim majority in the House, and they'll need nearly full party approval to get the bill passed. Elena Moore, NPR News.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 02-11-2025 11AM EST
The order directs the Trump administration to immediately end any federal funding pause, pointing to information from states that details how some funding has remained inaccessible. The legal challenge is one of two lawsuits sparked by a memo from the Office of Management and Budget last month.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 02-11-2025 11AM EST
That memo was rescinded days after it was released, but the White House says a review of federal funding is still necessary. The administration also argued in a court filing that it had acted, quote, in good faith to interpret the scope of the court's temporary restraining order. Elena Moore, NPR News.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-04-2025 3PM EST
Though similar, this won't be a State of the Union address. Those happen after a president's first year in office. This joint address lets a newly sworn-in president lay out their agenda. And Trump's first few weeks have been busy. His administration has taken steps to dramatically reshape the federal government, crack down on illegal immigration, and redefine the U.S. role abroad.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-04-2025 3PM EST
His supporters are thrilled, his detractors dismayed. Trump's remarks are set to kick off at 9 p.m. Eastern. Elena Moore, NPR News, Washington.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 12-02-2024 7PM EST
In a statement on X, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson blamed the Biden family for eroding public trust in the justice system, adding that, quote, real reform cannot begin soon enough. Johnson is one of a handful of prominent Republicans who have spoken out about this, and some Democrats have also come out against the pardon.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 12-02-2024 7PM EST
Colorado Senator Michael Bennett wrote on X that Biden's decision puts, quote, personal interest ahead of duty, adding that it further erodes Americans' faith that the justice system is fair and equal for all. Elena Moore, NPR News.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-09-2025 6PM EST
In addition to Biden, all four living former presidents attended the funeral, including President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office in less than two weeks. Elena Moore, NPR News, Washington.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-09-2025 6PM EST
Political leaders, friends, and family described Carter as both a powerful president and politician and a thoughtful and giving man. President Biden, who was a longtime friend and colleague of the 39th president, delivered a eulogy at the service. He praised Carter's character and legacy, casting a forward-looking message.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-08-2025 3AM EDT
This week, Speaker Johnson said that at least one of the previously floated options for cutting Medicaid is now off the table, a move that may complicate Republicans' goal of finding a total of $1.5 trillion in savings. And in a letter to Johnson, many hardline conservatives say that goal was non-negotiable. Georgia Congressman Rich McCormick is one of them.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-08-2025 3AM EDT
Republicans are still negotiating and hope to resolve this and other major differences in the coming weeks. Elena Moore, NPR News.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-03-2025 7PM EDT
The Pentagon probe follows an inquiry request sent by the top Republican and Democratic senators on the Armed Services Committee. In a letter to the IG, Senators Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Jack Reed of Rhode Island say the incident raises questions about, quote, the use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-03-2025 7PM EDT
The Senate committee has also said it plans to hold a hearing on the matter. Hegzeth has denied that classified war plans were discussed in the Signal chat. Elena Moore, NPR News, Washington.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-18-2025 9AM EDT
In his veto letter, Governor Wes Moore writes, now is not the time for another study. Instead, he writes, it's time for action, including policies he will introduce to address barriers to Black families' access to work and wealth.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-18-2025 9AM EDT
Maryland's Black Caucus issued their own statement expressing disappointment, noting the measure passed with a veto-proof majority and, quote, the legislature will have the final say. A Pew study from 2022 finds three-quarters of Black Americans think descendants of people enslaved in the U.S. should be repaid in some way. A majority of all U.S. adults oppose reparations.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-18-2025 9AM EDT
California is among several states and cities moving forward on reparations plans. Amy Held, NPR News.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-15-2025 3PM EDT
but that decision has caused rifts within the Democratic Party. Elena Moore, NPR News, Washington.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-15-2025 3PM EDT
We need treatments, but you need clinical trials to get to treatments.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-15-2025 3PM EDT
Senate Republicans hold a majority in the chamber, but they needed Democratic votes to overcome a filibuster and get the measure to a final vote. For that procedural vote, a total of 10 Democrats sided with Republicans to advance the bill. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was one of them and argued that allowing the GOP to pass their bill was a better move than shutting down the government.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 12-06-2024 7PM EST
Unemployment inched up a little bit in November from 4.1 to 4.2 percent, but that's still quite low by historical standards. We're also seeing an uptick in the number of workers quitting jobs, which typically is a sign that they're pretty confident they can find another position.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 12-06-2024 7PM EST
Maybe the clearest signal that we're still in a pretty solid job market is that wages continue to go up at a pretty healthy pace. You know, average wages in November were 4 percent higher than a year ago. That's almost certainly a bigger jump than we saw in prices. We'll find out for sure next week when the inflation data comes out.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 12-06-2024 7PM EST
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Hegseth was, quote, "...doing very well." He called him a winner and added there is nothing that can be done to change that. Over the past few weeks, Hegseth has been meeting with Senate lawmakers on Capitol Hill trying to shore up support. But as he remains at the center of a number of allegations, it's left some lawmakers concerned.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 12-06-2024 7PM EST
And it's unclear whether Hegseth has the support needed to be confirmed. That said, Republicans will hold a majority in the Senate next year. And while no GOP senator has said they would be a definite no vote, enough have expressed reservations to potentially sink his nomination if Hegseth is ultimately unable to gain their support. Elena Moore, NPR News, Washington.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-09-2025 5AM EDT
In a post on social media, Trump praises Pirro and says she's, quote, incredibly well-qualified for this position. Jeanine Pirro previously served as district attorney of Westchester County in New York, but she left that job 20 years ago. Since then, she's become a prominent face on Fox News and other conservative media.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-09-2025 5AM EDT
She has a record as a fierce defender of Trump, and notably, she promoted false claims about the 2020 presidential election. It's unclear when the Senate will consider Pirro's nomination to be interim U.S. attorney for the nation's capital. Elena Moore, NPR News.
Up First from NPR
Trump Marks 100 Days, Steve Bannon On Trump's Presidency, The "Big Beautiful Bill"
Yeah, well, a few weeks ago, the House and the Senate approved a budget framework for this big spending bill. Now, House Republicans say they're focused on drafting and agreeing to all the pieces of the legislation based on that framework. Here's how Republican congressman and majority leader Steve Scalise put it to reporters on Tuesday.
Up First from NPR
Trump Marks 100 Days, Steve Bannon On Trump's Presidency, The "Big Beautiful Bill"
Yeah. And House committees are planning to release and work through their proposals for the spending bill over the next few weeks. After that, the House Budget Committee will work to put it all together so the whole House can vote. And we should say, Layla, this is entirely a partisan process. And Democrats who don't have the power to stop this are unanimously opposed.
Up First from NPR
Trump Marks 100 Days, Steve Bannon On Trump's Presidency, The "Big Beautiful Bill"
Well, Republicans want to pass a lot of policy, but some of it is divisive, even among Republicans. And that's just a difficult task given their razor-thin majority. It means Republicans need virtually full party support to get this bill over the finish line. So they need to keep different factions of their conference happy. Plus, there's already one big problem.
Up First from NPR
Trump Marks 100 Days, Steve Bannon On Trump's Presidency, The "Big Beautiful Bill"
House committees have been directed to propose at least $1.5 trillion in cuts. In the Senate, they're supposed to slash just $4 billion in cuts, but they've promised to cut more.
Up First from NPR
Trump Marks 100 Days, Steve Bannon On Trump's Presidency, The "Big Beautiful Bill"
Well, one is over the future of Medicaid, the government insurance program available for low-income Americans and folks with disabilities. It falls under the House Energy and Commerce Committee's control, and the committee is looking to propose $880 billion in cuts.
Up First from NPR
Trump Marks 100 Days, Steve Bannon On Trump's Presidency, The "Big Beautiful Bill"
And Democrats point to a recent analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to conclude that cuts to Medicaid would have to happen in order to get to that number. Still, you know, some Republicans have come out strongly against this, both in the House and in the Senate.
Up First from NPR
Trump Marks 100 Days, Steve Bannon On Trump's Presidency, The "Big Beautiful Bill"
You know, it's something Missouri Senator Josh Hawley told me he's not going to compromise on, given just how many people in his state rely on both Medicaid and the related Children's Health Insurance program.
Up First from NPR
Trump Marks 100 Days, Steve Bannon On Trump's Presidency, The "Big Beautiful Bill"
Well, some committees have started to spell out what they would already cut. Just this week, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce released their spending proposal, which includes scrapping some current student loan repayment plans and capping how much Americans can borrow from the government. So we'll be watching how lawmakers negotiate these cuts over the next few weeks.
Up First from NPR
Trump Marks 100 Days, Steve Bannon On Trump's Presidency, The "Big Beautiful Bill"
Thanks.
Up First from NPR
Trump In The Middle East, Hamas Hostage Release, Mulling Medicaid Cuts
Yeah, well, GOP members have to come up with $1.5 trillion in proposed savings or cuts to offset the cost of things like making Trump's 2017 tax cuts permanent. That's about a quarter of annual federal spending. And some conservative Republicans say one way of getting there is restructuring some programs like Medicaid.
Up First from NPR
Trump In The Middle East, Hamas Hostage Release, Mulling Medicaid Cuts
the federal insurance program available for low-income Americans and folks with disabilities. And the committee that oversees Medicaid is scheduled to mark up their portion of the bill on Tuesday. They've been asked to find $880 billion in cuts. But moderate Republicans who face competitive reelection races next year are very much against, you know, massive changes to the program.
Up First from NPR
Trump In The Middle East, Hamas Hostage Release, Mulling Medicaid Cuts
And given the GOP's razor thin majority in the House right now, the party needs those votes to get this massive spending bill passed. So this whole week, Layla, is just about finding a compromise.
Up First from NPR
Trump In The Middle East, Hamas Hostage Release, Mulling Medicaid Cuts
Well, I mean, some of the general ideas do have virtually full party support. Here's how House Speaker Mike Johnson defended changes to Medicaid last week.
Up First from NPR
Trump In The Middle East, Hamas Hostage Release, Mulling Medicaid Cuts
Most GOP lawmakers agree that there should be work requirements for those on Medicaid expansion, which extends benefits to lower-income, childless adults without disabilities. In that same vein, the party has talked a lot about removing what they describe as waste, fraud, and abuse. Is that enough, though, to meet their goals for cutting spending? Well, it's unclear. Talks are ongoing this week.
Up First from NPR
Trump In The Middle East, Hamas Hostage Release, Mulling Medicaid Cuts
On Medicaid specifically, Johnson already made some concessions that make it harder to get to their cost-cutting goals. Moderates seem to be gaining ground on their efforts to stop massive changes to the program. And that could shore up their votes, but that could also risk losing key support from more conservative members who say sweeping cuts are necessary.
Up First from NPR
Trump In The Middle East, Hamas Hostage Release, Mulling Medicaid Cuts
So even as Republicans get down to the wire here, so much is still being negotiated.
Up First from NPR
Trump In The Middle East, Hamas Hostage Release, Mulling Medicaid Cuts
Yeah, several. A handful of moderate members say their support for the spending bill is tied to whether it will include a higher cap for state and local property tax deductions known as SALT. Some lawmakers are also on the fence about potential changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program called SNAP.
Up First from NPR
Trump In The Middle East, Hamas Hostage Release, Mulling Medicaid Cuts
Not to mention, one very big thing, the future and scope of these tax cuts could depend just on how much they can claw back in savings.
Up First from NPR
ICE Student Arrests, HHS Cuts, Stefanik Nomination Pulled, China Trade City
Well, Stefanik is a close ally of the president, and she's really been seen as a rising star within the party. She was elected in 2014 and at the time was the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. She was a vocal Trump defender during his 2019 impeachment hearing and later rose to a top leadership position within the party. All of this was supposed to make her confirmation process appear easy.
Up First from NPR
ICE Student Arrests, HHS Cuts, Stefanik Nomination Pulled, China Trade City
The problem, it turned out, Michelle, wasn't Stefanik, but House Republicans and their razor thin majority. You know, on most bills, the party can only afford to lose one or two votes. And, you know, there was a chance Stefanik's departure would only make things harder, which, you know, Trump decided was too risky.
Up First from NPR
ICE Student Arrests, HHS Cuts, Stefanik Nomination Pulled, China Trade City
He wrote on social media yesterday that Republicans needed to maintain every seat they could
Up First from NPR
ICE Student Arrests, HHS Cuts, Stefanik Nomination Pulled, China Trade City
Yeah, I mean, well, since the fall, two other Republicans have left office. Former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, who resigned before the start of the term. and former Florida Congressman Mike Waltz, who now serves as Trump's national security advisor. Special elections are underway for both of those seats, and Republicans are easily expected to hold on in Gates's district.
Up First from NPR
ICE Student Arrests, HHS Cuts, Stefanik Nomination Pulled, China Trade City
But the race for Waltz's seat is shaping up to be way more competitive than expected. And, you know, Stefanik won her race by double digits last fall. But, you know, the decision to withdraw her nomination shows that Republicans just don't want to take any more risks right now in any more races, especially when there's still a long to do list on Capitol Hill.
Up First from NPR
ICE Student Arrests, HHS Cuts, Stefanik Nomination Pulled, China Trade City
You know, Trump has done a lot by executive action. But in terms of legislation, it's a different story. Republicans want to make Trump's 2017 tax cuts permanent. They also want more funding for defense and the president's immigration agenda permanent. So, again, Michelle, this really is a reminder of just how fragile the GOP majority in the House is right now.
Up First from NPR
ICE Student Arrests, HHS Cuts, Stefanik Nomination Pulled, China Trade City
Well, for her part, Stefanik told Fox News last night that she supported Trump's decision.
Up First from NPR
ICE Student Arrests, HHS Cuts, Stefanik Nomination Pulled, China Trade City
He and I had multiple conversations today, and we are committed to delivering results on behalf of the American people. House Speaker Mike Johnson has invited Stefanik back to House GOP leadership. But it's unclear what role that may be since her old job has since been filled.
Up First from NPR
ICE Student Arrests, HHS Cuts, Stefanik Nomination Pulled, China Trade City
And, you know, though Johnson expressed enthusiasm about having her back on the Democratic side, they're framing this whole moment pretty differently. In a statement from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, he said, quote, House Republicans are running scared.